Greetings all!

Hi, I have a good problem. Okay, I import the image, trace it and I have a nice vector image. Now I want to use the nifty path operations on certain parts of the drawing. Problem: when I "break apart" the image, all the parts end up on the same level - i.e., they lose their overlapping arrangement! That means I have to manually go through all the little parts and send some to back and bring others to forward. This is a real pain if there are lots of little shapes. I end up with a pile of black shapes that I cannot see.

Is there an easier way to do this? Somebody please tell me I am going about it the wrong way!

Thanks,
Brother Gabriel-Marie

Can you provide a screenshot of the trace image, and the trace image after "break apart"?

I didn't think the Z-index of the shapes would change, but if you do break apart something like the letter "O" you will end up with with two solid shapes - one for the outer rim and one for the inner. To put the "O" back together you have to use "difference".